D.C. electric company Pepco Holdings Inc. received approval Wednesday for a 230-mile power line that would serve customers in the Mid-Atlantic region.

PJM Interconnection, which operates the mid-Atlantic power grid, approved the project.

Though the company is still working out the exact route, the line is planned to begin at the Possum Point station near Dumfries, travel through Northern Virginia to another station in Clinton, Md., through Southern Maryland, across the Delmarva Peninsula and connect to the grid in southern New Jersey.

About 80 percent of the power line would be built on existing property owned by Pepco, spokesman Robert Dobkin said Wednesday.

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“This line is desperately needed for the growth we’re experiencing,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Energy earlier this month created a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor, which runs from the Shenandoah Valley through Loudoun and Fairfax counties and into D.C.

The move set up a commission that can review plans for new power lines if localities deny them, and overrule them if enough demand is found in the area.

The line would increase power between 800 and 2,000 megawatts, which is enough to power about 2 million homes, Dobkin said.

The cost of the power line is estimated at about $1 billion. The cost would be split among utility customers who benefit from the line, Dobkin said. But the line is expected to reduce congestion costs by about $125 million, he added.

Pepco hopes to begin work in 2014 and plans to build the line in eight phases, Dobkin said.

The project must next undergo environmental review in the states affected by its construction.

Maryland state delegate Murray D. Levy, who serves Charles County, said congestion costs and the ability to transmit electricity from power plant projects in the works are a major issue for his district. He has yet to hear from residents concerned about the plant, he said.

“It’s a little early for that,” he said. “My experience tells me that you can have 10 headlines in a row about a project, but until you put a pin in the map, you won’t start hearing people’s concerns. But I’m sure they’ll have them.”

Pepco plans to meet with community leaders and environmental groups as the process moves forward, Dobkin said.

“Nobody wants it in their back yard, but we need these power lines if we want to keep the economy going; there’s no getting away from it,” Dobkin said.

Congressman Steny Hoyer, who represents Maryland’s fifth district, which includes a portion of Prince George’s County and the three counties in Southern Maryland, says he believes any new project must “first address concerns about the impact on the environment and privately owned property,” press secretary Stephanie Lundberg said Wednesday.

melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com